Friday, November 27, 2009

PRE-GAME: Drummondville Voltigeurs vs Saint John Sea Dogs

Visiting Team: Drummondville VoltigeursRecord: 20-5-0-2 (1st in Telus Central Division)Last Game: 5-1 loss @ Moncton yesterdayLeading Scorer: Marc-Olivier Vachon: 26-19-19-38Notes: The Volts have two NHL draft picks and are both Montreal prospects in Gabriel Dumont and Philippe Lefebrve… Sean Couturier is a Bathurst native and son of the Titan’s general manager. He is a top prospect for the 2011 NHL entry draft… 7-2-0-1 in their last 10 games… ranked number four in Canada in the CHL Top 10 and sixth in the Station Nation CHL Rankings… after playing Moncton last night and Saint John tonight, the Volts travel to Cape Breton for a Sunday afternoon affair with the Eagles… scoring for Drummondville in their 4-3 shootout loss to Saint John was Sean Couturier, Ryan McKiernan, and Gabriel Dumont. No shooter could beat Gelinas in the shootout… three points ahead of Victoriaville for first place in the Telus Central… Philippe Bergeron scored for the Volts last night in their 5-1 loss in Moncton… Couturier leads the QMJHL in goals with 20. His team mate Marc-Olivier Vachon is second with 19.

Home Team: Saint John Sea DogsRecord: 23-4-1-0 (1st in Atlantic Division)Last Game: 7-4 Win @ Lewiston on SundayLeading Scorer: Michael Kirkpatrick: 27-6-23-29Notes: Currently on a 15 game winning streak. The streak is the best in the CHL this season and is good for seventh all-time in the QMJHL… ranked second in the CHL Top 10 and second on the Station Nation CHL rankings… have the most wins in the QMJHL and CHL with 23… have the fewest amount of loses in the QMJHL… second worst penalty kill in the league with a 74.1% rating… 37 of Saint John’s 74 goals against have been while playing shorthanded… have the best home record in the league at 11-2-0-0… 9-1-0-0 in their last 10 games at Harbour Station… goaltender Marc-Antoine Gelinas has the best GAA in the league at 2.24… Kevin Gagne, Nicholas Petersen, and Tomas Jurco all scored in Saint John’s shootout victory over Drummondville last Friday. Jurco and Mike Hoffman scored in the shootout… averaging 3,433 fans per game… Olivier Ouellet will be a scratch tonight. He left the team last week for personal reasons and his return is becoming more unlikely every day… Nicholas Petersen leads the league in +/- with a rating of +24.

All-Time- Not Including This Season (GP-W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS):8-4-4-0-0-8Home: 4-2-2-0-0-4Road: 4-2-2-0-0-4Goals For: 27Goals Against: 34

Station Nation Facts:

In 2008-09, the team beat its own records, when Yannick Riendeau was one of the greatest leaders in franchise history. At the end of the regular season, the Voltigeurs won their first championship title, with 112 points and 54 wins. On May 12, 2009, the Voltigeurs lifted the President Cup for the first time in franchise history in front of a sell-out crowd at the Marcel Dionne Centre. It was a seven-game series to remember between Drummondville and Shawinigan. They finished with a 2-2 record in the Mastercard Memorial Cup.

Mike Hoffman played for the Volts last season and was traded to Saint John at the draft. The deal completed the Chris DiDomenico trade that saw Saint John acquire Drummondville’s first round draft pick and Hoffman. The Sea Dogs used the pick to draft Jonathan Huberdeau.

Head coach Mario Duhamel was a candidate for the vacant Sea Dogs coaching position in the summer.

Nine of the ten top players in +/- in the QMJHL play for either Saint John or Drummondville.